Widdling Thoughts

In Thoughtful Equestrian: Plan Your Pee, a blogger discusses her horse’s weird urination habits. So, it got me thinking about urination habits around here.

Milton hates to pee in his stall. If he’s in for an hour, if he’s in for three hours, the first thing he does upon exiting is to park out. As the person who cleans up after him, I am pleased with this quirk.

OTOH, Rodney is a proponent of contained urination. He loves the stall. He thinks of it as his. If I give in to his demands to let him in for a few minutes, he checks out the feed bucket, has a big drink (carried water in a bucket tastes so much better than trough water), and pees. He also stomps around the stall, mixing the poop into powder. Rodney is not the chambermaid’s favorite.

Or perhaps he likes padded piddling. If the stall is not available, he has been know to pee on his hay. This does not slow down his consumption of said hay. Perhaps he dislikes splashing?

Recently, once or twice, Rodney has peed after leaving the stall. Is he learning from Milton?

I’ve said all of this before [Daily Routine: Housecleaning, Let Me In]. but not as its own post. Yes, these are the sorts of things, one thinks about when minding horses. In fact, we have added the ability to take a good solid stance to our list of horse evaluation tools.

Speaking of peeing. Have you even noticed that before a class you always have to pee, even if you just came from the rest room? Then, after the class, you’re good to go. You don’t have to pee for the rest of the day. At least, that’s what happens to me.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Meanwhile Back at the Ranch, Sept 2016

I’m sitting on Rodney. He’s wearing a bit. From a Rodney perspective, this is progress. When I consider that the American Eventing Championships were held at the beginning of the month, when I consider that I once had the plan of winning the AEC with Rodney, I feel stuck in mud. [Countdown]

Milton is doing great with ground driving. He’s been introduced to a proto-cart, which he thought was weird, but go over quickly. He took serious, airborne objection to the feel of the new crupper [Equipment]. We are told this is perfectly normal.
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Gratuitous Guest Cat Photo

Saturday afternoon cat nap Photo by Michelle Duplichien
Saturday afternoon cat nap
Photo by Michelle Duplichien

More Kori: Not My Horses, Not My Barn

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Post #1700

Letter Art: R is for Reins

2016-letter-r

 

Driving reins, hence the length. [Zilco]
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2016 Alphabet

 

Q is for Quote
P is for Polo Wraps
O is for Opinion
N is for Nature
M is for My Missing Motivation
L is for Leadline
K is for Knabstrupper
J is for Jenny’s Jodhpurs
I is for I Love You
H is for Halter
G is for Ghost Gallery
F is for Fence
E is for Eventing
D is for Do
C is for Carrot
B is for Brush
A is for Apple

2015 Alphabet

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

USDF Interview: Monica Fitzgerald, Show Secretary

usdf-sept-2016-cov

“Behind The Scenes: Monica Fitzgerald, Show Secretary”
USDF Connection
September 2016
United States Dressage Federation

A short interview with the secretary for Dressage At Devon and the Adequan Global Dressage Festival.

usdf-sept-2016-text

©2016 United States Dressage Federation. Used by permission. Reproduction prohibited without prior written permission of the publisher.

[Previous Behind The Scenes]

In The News

Driving Thursday

As promised, the hard copy of Greg’s article. [Life with a Blogger]

mshr-blanket

From the MTCC & MTPC Schooling Driving Event. [25 Years in the Making & Show Report]

PDF of article > Mid-South Horse Review > past issues > August 2016 > first inside page & page 22. Greg is driving the single horse, pink tie on table of contents, water jump in article.

With mandatory photo bomb.

mshr-blue

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Let The Blithering Begin

Saddle Seat Wednesday

Had my first 2016 boot camp double session. How did I do this four days a week last year?! [Let the Tune-Up Begin]

Last Wednesday, I had a saddle seat lesson in the morning, came home to do chores, went back for Greg’s driving lesson, and then rode a second time. The next day, I crept around the house as a pale imitation of a useful person.

On Friday, I had Stepping Stone Farm’s version of a lunge lesson [Leg Lessons]. Before I got on, I took the stirrups off the saddle. I don’t get to use them at the trot and I was pretty sure I could canter without them. Pretty sure.

Then on Saturday, we restarted the Tennessee driving lessons after our August break [Hunting Zebras, scroll down]. All I do is sit in a car, watch his lesson, then sit in a car. Why is that tiring? But it is.

Finally on Sunday, my stomach informed me, ‘Okay that’s enough aspirin for a while.’ It does this occasionally. I back off for a few days and we negotiate a truce. Nothing serious, just accumulated aches that keep me awake &/or make me cranky.

The pace will continue through September and October: driving lessons, driving shows, riding lessons, riding shows, capped off by Nationals at the end of October.

NACHS 2016

It’s all wonderful – perhaps not the aspirin embargo -, but an exhausting type of wonderful. I have already told two friends that I would love to see them … in November.

Previous 2016 post
Let the Madness Begin, Again

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott